Multimedia

A hundred dogs can’t be wrong

On July 4, 2006, I discovered the power of the Internet to inspire change.

For years, fireworks in Camarillo, Calif., were shot off immediately over the Ventura County Animal Shelter. The event’s sponsors claimed animal-rights activists had exaggerated how much the explosions scared the animals in the shelter.

To put an end to this they-said/they-said I took a video camera inside the shelter to capture the reaction of the dogs during entire 20-minute display. There had been no exaggeration. Most of the dogs showed signs of extreme stress.

The next year, armed with video to show what really happened inside the kennels, citizens convinced the Camarillo City Council to relocate the fireworks.

Click here to see “Fear on the Fourth.”

In May 2006, I was selected to be an Internet pioneer at the Ventura County Star. Since then I have produced several pieces for VenturaCountyStar.com.

I also have spoken at the University of California, Berkeley, Knight New Media boot camp for mid-career journalists to encourage other reporters to apply these powerful tools of sight and sound

ColleenCason.com

Links to my works

“Crawfish is kingfish”
Travel the back roads of
southern Louisiana to see how folks catch, cook and crave the ultimate Cajun comfort food.
“ The Accidental Historian” A young girl’s diary became the first written history of a remote stretch of the Ventura, Calif., coast.
“An Auspicious Day in Bali” Witness what few westerners ever see: a
sacred rite of Balinese life, the public cremation ritual.
“Velodrome Dad” A single dad keeps his three teens on track.